Cookie Time

I’m getting ready to make some cookies for a Halloween Party on Monday and I thought I would share my recipe for royal icing once again.

Since royal icing is made with raw egg whites and isn’t cooked, there can be an issue with food safety. This can be avoided by using pasteurized eggs. Royal icing uses only the egg whites, not the yolks, so there could be some waste if you purchase a dozen pasteurized eggs (and they’re more expensive than regular eggs too).

My solution is to buy egg whites in a carton. These are available in the egg section of the dairy case at your local grocery store, right next to the Egg Beaters and Better’n Eggs. Like the Egg Beaters and Better’n Eggs, egg whites often come in a store brand too. The egg whites are genuine pasteurized egg whites that you just measure out instead of separating eggs to get the whites.

If you like to eat your cookie dough and don’t want to worry about the health issues of raw eggs, you can substitute the Egg Beaters or Better’n Eggs in your cookie dough recipe for regular eggs. Just follow the equivalency chart on the side of the carton.

Royal Icing

1 pound powdered sugar
1/3 cup egg whites (or two egg whites)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (helps to bind the egg whites)
2 teaspoons of water

Mix it all in a mixer. You can make different consistencies. add some more powdered sugar to make it a bit firmer. If you want to cover a cookie in icing, use a round tip and draw a line around the outside, then use slightly more watery icing to fill in. The icing will spread out, but won’t go over the side because of the icing dam. A toothpick dipped into food coloring can be used to “draw” features in newly poured icing (works well with white).

Try to use gel coloring if possible (Wilton makes this) but you can use the liquid drops from the supermarket. If you do, it will thin the icing so be prepared to add a little more powdered sugar if you want firmer icing.

Royal icing can be kept in sealed plastic containers at room temperature for days. Mix different colors in different containers. If you don’t have cake decorating tools, you can still pipe icing dams using a plastic sandwich bag with a low corner just nipped off.

***I have received no compensation or consideration from Wilton or the makers of Better’n Eggs or Egg Beaters for this post. I have purchased these products with my own money to use in recipes and I am letting my readers know about their options. ***

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